ORCID
http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5444-8287
Date of Award
Summer 8-15-2020
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Degree Type
Dissertation
Abstract
Molluscum contagiosum virus (MCV) is a common human-specific poxvirus with a proclivity for
infecting children and the immune-compromised. A characteristic MCV infection is restricted to
the epidermal layers of the skin and can persist for weeks to years in an otherwise healthy
individual. The high clinical burden of MCV is at odds with our limited knowledge regarding how
it successfully evades the human immune response, which is in part due to the lack of an animal
model or cell line to propagate the virus. Through this dissertation, we have uncovered and
characterized a novel mechanism by which MC80, a protein encoded by MCV, downregulates
host MHC-I surface expression in human and murine cell lines to evade T cell killing.
Additionally, by sequencing clinically-derived MCV lesions, we have been able to assemble
multiple novel MCV genomes and identified that three key regions of the MCV genome, encoding
immune-evasive proteins, appear to be undergoing both homologous recombination and accordion
expansion.
Language
English (en)
Chair and Committee
Daved H. Fremont
Committee Members
David Wang, Daniel E. Goldberg, Brian S. Kim, Marco Colonna,
Recommended Citation
Harvey, Ian Benjamin, "A mechanistic and genomic analysis of molluscum contagiosum virus immune evasion" (2020). Arts & Sciences Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 2323.
https://openscholarship.wustl.edu/art_sci_etds/2323
Included in
Allergy and Immunology Commons, Biochemistry Commons, Bioinformatics Commons, Immunology and Infectious Disease Commons, Medical Immunology Commons